The CSWM is responsible for two regional waste management centres that serve the Comox Valley and Campbell River, as well as a range of transfer stations and smaller waste-handling and recycling facilities for the electoral areas of the CVRD and the Strathcona Regional District. The CSWM service manages over 100,000 tonnes of waste and recycled material and oversees a number of diversion and education programs.

The CSWM services and programs are supported by the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan (RSWMP)which is a plan required by British Columbia legislation. Currently the CSWM is updating the solid waste management plan that guides how the region will manage its garbage.

The Strathcona Regional District was established on February 15, 2008 as one of two new local governments, created by the provincial government’s restructure of the Comox Strathcona Regional District. Regional Districts are a unique feature of the British Columbia local government system, and the Strathcona Regional District, as with all regional districts, is a federation of municipalities and rural areas. Regional districts provide a government for unincorporated (rural) areas, a forum for inter-municipal cooperation and an organization upon which provincial mandates can be imposed, such as for regional waste management planning.

The Regional District provides services such as assistance with Official Community Plans; approval/inspection services to encourage and ensure compliance; awareness and education; water and air enhancement; solid and liquid waste management; impact assessment; protective services such as 911, fire prevention/suppression, disaster response, search and rescue, victims’ assistance and animal control; recreation and culture, such as development and management of parks, greenways, recreation facilities; public utilities and services such as water supply, public transit, street lighting; regional planning and encouragement of sustainable development.